Microsoft Acquired Minecraft for $2.5 Billion

Microsoft has announced this week that it has acquired Mojang, the company which developed “Minecraft” for $2.5 Billion. Microsoft expects the acquisition to break even in FY15 based on a GAAP basis. The acquisition is expected to close in late 2014 after the customary closing conditions and any regulatory review has been settled. Mojang was a Stockholm based company which created the game 5 years ago. Minecraft was launched in 2009 by a team of game developer, Markus “Notch” Persson, Carl Manneh and Jakob.

Over the years, the game was downloaded for more than 100 millions on PC alone, making it the most popular video game in history. Moreover, it is also the most popular online game on Xbox and among the top paid app in iOS and Android in the US. The Minecraft community are among the most active players in the online gaming industry with over 2 billion hours played along on Xbox in the past 2 years. For the PC platform alone, almost 90 percent of the players are paid customers and they have signed in within the past 12 months.

The next step after the acquisition is that to make Minecraft available across all platforms with PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and Playstation, being a few of the example. Unfortunately the creators of the game will be moving on to start new projects thus they will not join Microsoft in developing the next version of the game.

“Minecraft” is one of the most popular franchises of all time. We are going to maintain “Minecraft” and its community in all the ways people love today, with a commitment to nurture and grow it long into the future,” said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox.